As a rule, several collection and mowing devices are arranged laterally adjacent to each other in corn harvesters with a rather large working width. The crop from the collection and mowing devices is transported by conveyors in a transverse direction and then conveyed to the rear into a harvesting machine. In order to bridge the difference in height between the corn harvester and the infeed of the harvesting machine, oblique conveyors can be used that can also function simultaneously as transverse conveyors, and to which the crop is fed from one (U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,804) or two collection and mowing devices (EP 0 685 149 A). The use of oblique conveyors avoids having to position the axis of the collection and mowing devices obliquely to the front. DE 40 02 344 A describes a corn harvesting device wherein a large drum, which can rotate around the vertical axis and at first transports the crop laterally to the middle and then to the rear, is preceded by three smaller mowing drums. Transverse transport on the back side of the collection and mowing devices can be effected by transverse conveyors in cooperation with the collection and mowing devices (U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,225) or independently of them (EP 1 008 291 A).
It is possible, especially when deflecting plants, for parts of plants to fall down during the harvesting process, especially the relatively heavy fruit of corn plants. In known machines, the plant parts fall onto covers or other machine parts, and from there, or directly onto the ground, so that they are lost to the harvesting process.